Vikings secure hardware at state tennis

Tuesday

May 15, 2018 at 8:00 AMMay 15, 2018 at 8:42 AM

WINFIELD — The Smoky Valley High School boys tennis team accomplished its goal of qualifying an entire team for state. Yet, the Vikings were not content.

Five Vikings brought home a state medal from Winfield on Saturday which led to a third-place finish as a team. Head coach John Bellah could not have been more pleased with his team’s performance at sate.

“First goal always at Smoky Valley is to get as many kids into the state tournament as we can, and this was the first year since 2011 we’ve gotten all six,” Bellah said. “This is a fun group, they’re fun to be around and easy to coach.”

Like they have been all year, the Vikings were led by doubles.

Senior Nick Reinert and sophomore Johann Rauchholz played six matches in two days, winning five of them, to secure fifth place. Similarly, Matt Lucas and Jake Lucas had a busy weekend and ended the tournament with a seventh-place finish.

“Our doubles teams really rose to the occasion,” Bellah said.

In singles, Cole Brumbaugh gave the Vikings the added points they needed in order to place at state. Brumbaugh went 3-3 over the weekend to place 10th.

“Overall, good year for Cole,” Bellah said. “I’m proud of him.”

Reinert, a four-year varsity letter winner, is the lone graduating senior. It will be difficult to replace Reinert on and off the court, but the Vikings have serious potential for next season.

“Nick has been a great leader for us; he’s a smart kid, he knows his sports really well,” Bellah said. “Now we let the kids do their thing in the summertime, and I know a lot of these kids love tennis so I’m excited to see how the kids progress.”

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